torontohelen

I have read that foriegners, particularly Brits, were buying into the Bulgarian property market like crazy. Until the economic crisis hit. Now, I hear people are stuck with places they can't sell and that developers are dropping projects. Anyone know more about this? Do you know where I can find property owners in Sofia chat with about their experiences?

Thank you!

Azarel

Not sure about Sofia but the same is true of Bucharest. I've seen some new apartments going for about 60K Euro which probably would have been 100K two years ago, especially in the blocks which haven't been finished yet as developers try to raise the money to finish the projects.

My own apartment cost me 68K Euro in 2006 and rose steadily to about 120K just before the recession hit. Now similar properties in the same area are going for around my original purchase price. Luckily I don't have a mortgage and don't intend to sell so I'm not bothered - the prices will start to rise again in the near future.

The interesting upshot in Romania is that lots of people are selling off granny's cottage in the Transylvanian countryside cheaply in order to get together deposits to buy apartments in the major towns or just to get some ready money to see them through the recession. I've seen some very cute cottages with a plot of land in the 15-40K Euro price range.

Here (and I imagine in Bulgaria) all house prices are set in Euros and this is the only problem for Brits. As I said, my flat was 68K Euro, which at the time meant paying about 46K pounds. Although it's worth the same now (in Euro), I would need 60K pounds to buy it.

Good time to invest in either country, maybe, but less so if your savings are in pounds.